The horror of great darkness had fallen on the land. Not a star shone in the heavens. Suddenly the veil was rent asunder and from the Southern heights lept a tongue of flame. The signal? A pillar of fire and then darkness--even darkness that might be felt. Six battalions sprang to their feet as one man; the scouts rose from the furrows and moved forward swiftly and silently. It was one o’clock in the morning and the advance had begun. They passed through the village and came out upon the plain. The stubble crackled under their feet; no other sound broke the silence, and darkness swallowed up the long line of bayonets. In the Mansion of Devils--that name the soldiers have given to the hill--the strength of the enemy was unknown. From the middle of the plain rose two small eminences and in the shadow of the Three Pillars stood a dozen houses surrounded by high mud walls. The eminences were trenched and on two sides of the cluster of cottages ran a seven-fold line of trenches--one close to the other like a maze. Toward these points the infantry moved slowly and silently in a wide crescent. On the left marched the Himaji regiment under Colonel Yasumura, and on the right was the Fukuchiyama regiment under Colonel Shiniozu. The brigade was commanded by Major-General Marui. Shortly before three o’clock the scouts came upon the enemy and, obedient to orders, lay flat on the ground, while the bullets swept over them. In the darkness men always fire high and most of the shots fell among the reserves, and among the divisional staff behind the village. General Kanamura’s horse was wounded by a stray bullet. The fight was raging when General Nozu left the Central army reserves in the valley behind the hills and rode toward the village. General Ramamura sent warning of the danger and implored him to return. The advice, however unwelcome, was sound, and General Nozu, with great reluctance, acknowledged that the Commander of an army has no right to expose himself without due cause. He accordingly withdrew. Slowly the line of bayonets pressed onward, closely followed by the supports, who had now deployed and advanced in fighting formation. The objective of the right flank was a hill in rear of the Russian position; the left directed its steps to the Western spur of the Three Pillars of Stone; the centre marched against the cluster of houses. The right carried one of the eminences on the plain and, meeting with little resistance, began to close in upon the Three Pillars of Stone. Here, round the little cluster of cottages, was the heart of the fight. In front of the maze of trenches the ground was swept by a horizontal sheet of lead.